Amerasia Journal Pays Tribute to Yuri Kochiyama

The latest open-topic issue of Amerasia Journal highlights longstanding commitments to the Asian American community, with a tribute to Yuri Kochiyama and a spotlight on renowned graffiti artist Tempt One.

Yuri Kochiyama

To commemorate the passing of Kochiyama — one of the true giants of Asian America — Amerasia’s own Mary Uyematsu Kao compiled tributes from those who knew the pioneering political activist the best, from family members, kindred spirits, and faithful followers. Three generations of Kochiyama’s immediate family, as well as thoughts on her politics and life from Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Diane Fujino, Renee Tajima-Peña, and Karen Tei Yamashita, will be featured.

Amerasia Journal Issue 40:3 presents the work of Tempt One, an influential artist in the hip-hop community who has continued to create art after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) over a decade ago. Along with journalist Ben Higa’s brief history of his friend’s significance to graffiti art in Los Angeles and beyond, the issue includes a brief portfolio of Tempt’s work and reprints a first-person account from the artist himself, composed through specially designed software that allows him to type with his eyes.

Amerasia is also pleased to publish the winning essay for the 2013-2014 Lucie Cheng Prize for outstanding graduate student research by Jungha Kim, titled “‘I’m Still at War with Myself’: Transnational Adoption and Endless Labor in Jane Jeong Trenka’s Fugitive Visions.” A recent Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Kim was nominated for the award by her advisor, Professor Josephine Park. The prize is named after the late Professor Lucie Cheng, former director of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (1972-1987).

Rounding out the issue is new research on the subversive use of humor in Miné Okubo’s “Citizen 13660” by Stella Oh (Loyola Marymount University) and E. San Juan, Jr.’s exploration of the Huk Rebellion in the Philippines as recounted in Benjamin Appel’s 1951 novel “Fortress in the Rice.” The issue also includes book reviews of recent titles in Asian American studies, featuring Robert Ku’s “Dubious Gastronomy” and Hoang Tan Nguyen’s “A View from the Bottom.”

Published by UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center since 1971, Amerasia Journal is regarded as the core journal in the field of Asian American studies. For more information, visit www.aasc.ucla.edu/aascpress/aj.aspx.

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